Section 3.1: Stages of Second Language Acquisition and Language Profiles

Stages of Second Language Acquisition and Language Profiles

In New York State, the education of English Language Learners (ELLs) is governed by Commissioner's Regulations (CR) Part 154. This framework establishes the legal obligations and instructional standards for school districts to ensure that ELLs receive equitable access to a high-quality education. For the NYSTCE EAS exam, educators must understand the formal process of identifying ELLs, the developmental stages of second language acquisition, and the unique academic and linguistic profiles that students bring to the classroom.

The CR Part 154 Identification Process

The identification of English Language Learners in New York State follows a strict, standardized multi-step process that must be completed within 10 school days of a student’s initial enrollment.

Once identified, the student's English proficiency must be assessed annually using the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT). The NYSESLAT measures progress in the four language domains: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. A student exits ELL status by scoring at the "Commanding" level on the NYSESLAT (or through a combination of an "Expanding" score and passing scores on the Regents Exam in English Language Arts). After exiting, the student is designated as a Former ELL and is legally entitled to receive transitional support services and testing accommodations (such as bilingual glossaries and extended time) for a period of two years.

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Five Levels of English Language Proficiency

Under CR Part 154, NYS classifies ELLs into five developmental levels based on their performance on the NYSITELL or NYSESLAT. Educators must design instruction that matches these proficiency levels:

1. Entering (Beginning): The student has great difficulty understanding and communicating in English. They rely heavily on non-verbal cues, visuals, and native language support. They are in the earliest stages of language development.
2. Emerging (Low Intermediate): The student understands and uses simple English sentences. They can communicate basic needs and familiar topics but struggle with academic content and complex grammatical structures.
3. Transitioning (Intermediate): The student can understand and write simple to moderately complex sentences in English. They are developing academic language but need significant support (such as graphic organizers and sentence frames) to comprehend grade-level texts.
4. Expanding (Advanced): The student understands and communicates well in English on social and academic topics. They can write detailed paragraphs and engage in classroom discussions, but still need assistance with highly specialized academic vocabulary and complex literary structures.
5. Commanding (Proficient): The student has met the state standard for English proficiency and can communicate effectively in academic settings without specialized ELL services. They exit the ELL program and enter the two-year Former ELL monitoring phase.

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Krashen's Stages of Second Language Acquisition

Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition describes five predictable developmental stages that learners progress through. Educators must align their instructional scaffolds to the student's current developmental stage.

1. Preproduction (The "Silent Period")

• Characteristics: Students can understand more than they can produce. They have a receptive vocabulary of about 500 words but do not speak English. They may nod, point, draw, or use physical gestures to demonstrate comprehension.
• Classroom Application: Use Total Physical Response (TPR) where students respond to commands with physical movement. Incorporate rich visual aids, pictures, and real-world objects (realia). Pair the student with a bilingual buddy who speaks their native language.
• EAS Exam Trap: Never force a preproduction student to speak in front of the class or read aloud. This raises their "affective filter" (anxiety, self-consciousness) and hinders language acquisition. Instead, allow non-verbal methods of demonstrating understanding.

2. Early Production

• Characteristics: Students have a receptive and active vocabulary of approximately 1,000 words. They can speak in one- or two-word phrases, list items, and use short, memorized chunks of language.
• Classroom Application: Ask "yes/no" or "either/or" questions (e.g., "Is the character happy or sad?"). Provide simple graphic organizers, word banks, and picture cards. Use sentence frames with a single blank space for key terms.
• EAS Exam Trap: Avoid asking open-ended questions that require complex sentence construction (e.g., "Why did the character leave?"). Instead, scaffold the question so the student can respond with a limited vocabulary.

3. Speech Emergence

• Characteristics: Students possess a vocabulary of about 3,000 words. They can speak in simple sentences and ask basic questions, though they make frequent grammatical and pronunciation errors that do not interfere with general comprehension.
• Classroom Application: Use sentence starters and frames (e.g., "I think the character left because..."). Engage students in structured, low-stakes partner talks and cooperative learning groups. Have them describe pictures and retell stories.
• EAS Exam Trap: Do not over-correct grammatical errors during oral communication. Constant correction increases anxiety. Focus instead on modeling the correct structure (e.g., if the student says, "He runned away," the teacher responds, "Yes, he ran away quickly").

4. Intermediate Fluency

• Characteristics: Students have an active vocabulary of about 6,000 words. They can speak and write using complex sentences, share thoughts and opinions, and actively participate in academic discussions, though gaps in specialized academic vocabulary remain.
• Classroom Application: Provide graphic organizers, writing templates, and word banks featuring academic verbs. Use cooperative learning strategies like "Think-Pair-Share" and jigsaw readings. Teach word-learning strategies, such as analyzing Latin and Greek roots and identifying cognates.
• EAS Exam Trap: Do not assume that because a student speaks fluently and writes well, they no longer need scaffolding. Academic texts in science and social studies still require strategic vocabulary support and background-knowledge activation.

5. Advanced Fluency

• Characteristics: Students have a near-native command of English in both social and academic settings. They can read and write independently at grade level, though they may occasionally need clarification on cultural idioms or highly specialized vocabulary.
• Classroom Application: Encourage self-monitoring and peer-editing strategies. Offer advanced research projects and opportunities for argumentative writing. Continue to teach context-clue strategies for unfamiliar vocabulary.

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Special Language Profiles

New York State recognizes that English Language Learners are not a homogeneous group. Two critical profiles tested on the NYSTCE EAS are:

Students with Interrupted/Inconsistent Formal Education (SIFE)

• Definition: SIFE are ELLs who have attended schools in the United States for less than 12 months, are two or more years below grade level in their home language due to inconsistent or disrupted schooling, and have significant gaps in their home-language literacy and academic background.
• Instructional Needs: SIFE require targeted academic intervention, foundational literacy instruction (often utilizing their home language as a bridge), and extensive socio-emotional support. Teachers must design concrete, hands-on, experiential learning opportunities that connect real-world concepts to academic terms.
• EAS Exam Trap: Do not refer a SIFE student for special education evaluation simply because they are years behind academically. Gaps in schooling are an instructional issue, not a cognitive disability. An evaluation is only warranted if a disability is suspected after native-language assessment and consistent, targeted intervention.

Long-Term English Language Learners (LTELLs)

• Definition: LTELLs are students who have been enrolled in US schools for six or more years as ELLs and have not yet exited ELL status (often remaining stuck at the Transitioning or Expanding levels). They typically have high oral social proficiency (BICS) but significant gaps in academic reading, writing, and formal grammar (CALP).
• Instructional Needs: LTELLs require explicit, systematic instruction in academic vocabulary, sentence structures, and complex grammar. They benefit from regular, constructive feedback on their writing and targeted reading interventions that focus on text structure and comprehension strategies.

Professional and Pedagogical Standards

Educators must maintain high expectations for all ELLs, regardless of their proficiency level. Differentiated instruction does not mean watering down the curriculum or assigning lower-level tasks; it means keeping the cognitive demand high while providing the necessary linguistic scaffolds to make the content accessible.